Guardrails are traffic barriers placed along roadsides to screen errant vehicles from hazards behind the barrier. A common guardrail in the U.S. is constructed using a standard steel W-beam or three-beam mounted on spaced wood or steel posts. Alternative guardrail installation designs incorporate a box beam rail member wherein the rail member may be a tubular beam member having a square or rectangular cross-section. Another type of highway safety device is cable safety systems and cable barriers, which have been installed along edges of roadways and highways for many years. Cable safety systems and cable barriers have also been installed along medians between roadways and/or highways. Cable safety systems generally include one or more horizontal cables attached to support posts. For some applications cable safety systems and cable barriers may reduce damage to an impacting vehicle and/or injury to occupants of the impacting vehicle as compared with other types of highway safety systems and highway barriers.
Cable safety systems are often designed and installed with at least one cable mounted horizontally on a plurality of generally vertical support posts. The number of cables may vary depending on various factors such as the type of vehicles using the associated roadway and the hazard which required installation of the cable safety system.